August 2, 1990 - Part 1

I arrived in Kuwait about a week before the Iraqi invasion. I came over to fulfill one of the contract requirements that we had included with the sale of V-300 light armored vehicles to the Kuwaiti National Guard.

About 7:30 in the AM, the phone in my room rang. It was John. CNN was broadcasting that Iraqi forces were moving against Kuwait. S#@%!! Throw some things in a bag and get the f#@% out of here. That is the first priority, and that was what we did.

We are at the SAS Kuwait Hotel. John has a friend who lives in Kuwait, Mario, a fellow Maltese. We are throwing some essentials into a small bag, water, underwear, candy.... Mario and his wife Sarah live near here, in Salwa (I'll worry about the spelling later). We are evacuating to their house. Stay calm!

We didn't waste time checking out. What for? It only took five minutes to get to Mario's. I left behind a computer, a suit, pants, new shoes, shorts, just about everything, even my coffee pot. We figured a civilian house would be safer than a plush hotel. We appeared to be correct on that thought. Iraqi tanks were right outside the hotel an hour later, protecting the gulf from assault I guess. We are in a safe place, isolated, for now. Mario suggested that we hit the market to stock up on supplies. I don't like the idea, but we should get as much food stuff as we can,just in case. There are seven of us here; Mario and Sarah, their maid Sylvie, John and his wife Claudette, George and myself. John and George also worked for Cadillac Gage, and had been in country a little longer, providing field service and repair support for the V-300 vehicles.